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William Hite Jr., superintendent of Prince George's County public schools, has the unenviable task of balancing out enrollment at county high schools — but he is going a step further. In addition to modifying school boundaries, he is also seeking to group schools to provide better access to challenging curricula and popular programs.

For example, in each cluster of schools students would have access to a science and technology program, a career and technical program and an International Baccalaureate program (advanced level courses), allowing students to transfer within their cluster to access programs available at another school.

Timing this effort while high school boundaries are being reworked will allow officials to ensure enrollment matches with available resources.

Hite also has hopes of addressing other major issues — such as raising expectations, better transitioning students between grade levels and empowering school staff — but many of those can largely be handled independent of boundary changes.

Program equity in the county has long been a concern among parents, who complain about the difficulties in accessing education options available at other schools. Short of adding all the programs at every school — which is highly unlikely given that the school system is already anticipating $70 million in budget cuts — Hite's effort to share resources sounds like a good backup plan.

The devil will be in the details. Officials will need to ensure schools with the most sought-after programs aren't inundated with transfers and the impact on busing costs will need to be considered, to name a few.

However, Hite should be commended for his attempt to look beyond the boundary review and consider what other gains can be made during the modifications. It will take creative solutions to maintain education progress during such tough economic times.